Acne is a known inflammatory disease that often appears on portions of a patient extending from the neck to the face of the human body. Typically, acne is most prevalent during puberty, however, it is known that the presence of acne can be found during adulthood as well. Due to the inflammation occurring on portions of the human body which are exposed and visible, acne may have a significant psychological influence on the person inflicted with this disease.
Various therapeutic agents for acne have been developed. In particular, there have been drugs developed which directly act on Propionibacterium acnes that is a pathogen of acne.
In the art, the complete genome sequence of Propionibacterium acnes has been determined and as a result, it is known that many genes of Propionibacterium acnes encode a virulence factor. Based on this information, research on sialidase of Propionibacterium acnes has been carried out in developing a vaccine.
Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is a cytokine which circulates throughout the body. TNF is critical for effective immune surveillance and is required for proper proliferation and function of natural killer cells, T cells, B cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells. The primary role of TNF is in the regulation of immune cells. It is known that TNF can cause systemic inflammation which can result in various chronic conditions. Anti-TNF, also known as TNF blockers or inhibitors, interferes with the body's production of TNF and as a result, is effective to reduce inflammation.
Most drugs that have been developed to treat Propionibacterium acnes act on bacterial cells of Propionibacterium acnes that are a cause of acne and exert an anti-inflammatory effect. Accordingly, in a situation where there is reinfection with Propionibacterium acnes, inflammation occurs again. Thus, the use of such drugs may be effective temporarily, but their use induces the emergence of a drug-resistant bacterium which makes treatment more difficult.
There is a need in the art to develop antigen peptides against Propionibacterium acnes, as well as therapies and methods of administering the antigen peptides to regress, reduce or eliminate Propionibacterium acnes in a patient, and more particularly, therapies and methods which enable the continuous treatment of acne. It is desirable for the therapies and methods of administration to be effective in a reasonable period of time. A continuous treatment of acne includes immunotherapy, that is, a vaccine. Without intending to be bound by any particular theory, it is believed that establishing effective anti-acne immunity (recognition and immunologic memory of specific Propionibacterium acnes), can result in the immediate elimination of Propionibacterium acnes at least on reinfection with strains of the same Propionibacterium acnes. Accordingly, it is reasonably expected that immunotherapy can exert a continuous anti-inflammatory effect.
In accordance with the invention, it has been found that a peptides consisting of an amino acid sequence and anti-TNF can efficiently suppress inflammation induced by Propionibacterium acnes in patients.